I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1581 

To release wilderness study areas administered by the Bureau of Land Management that are not suitable for wilderness designation from continued 

management as de facto wilderness areas and to release inventoried 

roadless areas within the National Forest System that are not recommended for wilderness designation from the land use restrictions of 

the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Final Rule and the 2005 State 

Petitions for Inventoried Roadless Area Management Final Rule, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2011 

Mr. MCCARTHY of California (for himself, Mr. MCKEON, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. 

NUNES, Mr. DENHAM, Mrs. NOEM, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. PEARCE, 

Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. HERGER, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. HELLER, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, 

Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. LABRADOR, Mr. CALVERT, and Mr. COFFMAN

of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To release wilderness study areas administered by the Bureau of Land Management that are not suitable for 

wilderness designation from continued management as 

de facto wilderness areas and to release inventoried 

roadless areas within the National Forest System that 

are not recommended for wilderness designation from 


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the land use restrictions of the 2001 Roadless Area 

Conservation Final Rule and the 2005 State Petitions 

for Inventoried Roadless Area Management Final Rule, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wilderness and 

5 Roadless Area Release Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RELEASE OF BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT WIL7 DERNESS STUDY AREAS PREVIOUSLY IDENTI8 FIED AS NOT SUITABLE FOR WILDERNESS 

9 DESIGNATION. 

10 (a) RELEASE.—Congress finds and directs that the 

11 public lands described in subsection (b) have been ade12 quately studied for wilderness designation pursuant to sec13 tion 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 

14 of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782) and are no longer subject to 

15 the requirement of subsection (c) of such section per16 taining to the management of wilderness study areas in 

17 a manner that does not impair the suitability of such areas 

18 for preservation as wilderness. 

19 (b) COVERED PUBLIC LANDS.—Subsection (a) ap20 plies to public lands administered by the Bureau of Land 

21 Management pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and 

22 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) that— 


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1 (1) have not been designated as wilderness by 

2 an Act of Congress before the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act; and 

4 (2) have been identified by the Bureau of Land 

5 Management before the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act as not suitable for wilderness designation. 

7 (c) MANAGEMENT.—Public lands released by sub8 section (a) shall be managed by the Bureau of Land Man9 agement in accordance with the land use plan applicable 

10 to the lands developed pursuant to section 202 of the Fed11 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

12 1712). 

13 (d) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary of the Interior 

14 may not promulgate or issue any system-wide regulation, 

15 directive, or order that would direct management of the 

16 public lands released by subsection (a) in a manner con17 trary to the applicable land use plan. 

18 (e) TERMINATION OF APPLICABILITY OF WILDLANDS

19 ORDER.—Wildlands order 3310 shall not apply with re20 spect to the public lands released by subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 3. RELEASE OF INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREAS 

2 WITHIN THE NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM NOT 

3 RECOMMENDED FOR WILDERNESS DESIGNA4 TION. 

5 (a) RELEASE.—Congress finds and directs that the 

6 National Forest System lands described in subsection (b) 

7 have been adequately studied for wilderness designation 

8 pursuant to the second roadless area review and evalua9 tion program (RARE II) and the land and resource man10 agement plan revision process under section 6 of the For11 est and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 

12 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604) and are no longer subject to man13 agement to maintain the roadless character and values of 

14 the lands and comply with other land-use restrictions of 

15 the Roadless Area Conservation Rule contained in part 

16 294 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, and amended 

17 in the final rule and record of decision published in the 

18 Federal Register on January 12, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 

19 3244), and the final rule and record of decision published 

20 in the Federal Register on May 13, 2005 (70 Fed. Reg. 

21 25654). 

22 (b) COVERED NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.— 

23 Subsection (a) applies to inventoried roadless areas within 

24 the National Forest System set forth in the maps con25 tained in the Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation, 


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1 Final Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2, dated 

2 November 2000, that— 

3 (1) have not been designated as wilderness by 

4 an Act of Congress before the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act; and 

6 (2) were not recommended for designation as 

7 wilderness as a result of the second roadless area re8 view and evaluation program (RARE II) or the sub9 sequent revision of a land and resource management 

10 plan under section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland 

11 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

12 U.S.C. 1604). 

13 (c) MANAGEMENT.—National Forest System lands 

14 released by subsection (a) shall be managed by the Forest 

15 Service under the principles of the Multiple-Use Sus16 tained-Yield Act of 1960 (16 U.S.C. 528 et seq.) in ac17 cordance with the land and resource management plan de18 veloped for the unit of the National Forest System con19 taining the lands. 

20 (d) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

21 may not promulgate or issue any system-wide regulation, 

22 directive, or order that would direct management of the 

23 National Forest System lands released by subsection (a) 

24 in a manner contrary to the applicable land and resource 

25 management plan. 


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1 (e) TERMINATION OF APPLICABILITY OF AMEND2 MENTS.—The amendments made to part 294 of title 36, 

3 Code of Federal Regulations, in the final rule and record 

4 of decision published in the Federal Register on January 

5 12, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 3244), and the final rule and 

6 record of decision published in the Federal Register on 

7 May 13, 2005 (70 Fed. Reg. 25654), shall not apply with 

8 respect to the National Forest System lands released by 

9 subsection (a). 

Æ 


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